I want a good, clean fight.

Yesterday was Independence Day, the Fourth of July, ID4 (for you Will Smith fans). A day when we celebrate our great country, and all that it implies.

On twitter, I saw lots of people being snarky about the holiday. My initial reaction was, “Oh, come on guys, take it easy,” but then I stopped myself.

When we signed that document, we gave ourselves the freedom to fight back, the freedom to disagree, and the freedom to never allow ourselves to be told what to think or how to think it.

You pair that up with our ol’ friend First Amendment, and you’ve got what makes us a really cool nation!!

I love having a good argument. If you remember Ben, a fella that used to be a barista, he and I had some pretty different views on the world. We were on total opposite sides of the political spectrum, on opposite sides on what roles religion should play in our day-to-day lives, and any number of other topics. You know what we didn’t disagree on? Our friendship.

Now, I’m not going to share what side of what argument I was on, that’s none of your stinkin’ bees wax! But what I will say is this: I have never had so much fun fighting with someone.

This is a lost art.

That TOTALLY bugs me.

We have become a society of “For us or against us!” We have a multiple party government system, and it’s not so you can choose to be on one team or another, it’s because both sides have a lot of wonderful, interesting things to bring to the table. I feel like we forget that sometimes. We get so wrapped up in what our newchannel of choice tells us, how our friends feel, and the general group mentality. Just because you’re aligned with one party, doesn’t mean the people in the other party are idiots. Listen to them, try to feel what they feel, try to put yourself in their mindset. Question the beliefs of someone different than you, not only will it open your mind a bit, but it’ll force that person to confirm their own beliefs, and you’ll both walk away intellectually richer for it.

We are a strong, beautiful country because of the people in it. ALL of the people in it.

Listen to people, everyone has something amazing to say.

You are not your political party.

You are not your religious affiliation.

You are not your race, gender, sexuality, the car you drive or the shoes you wear.